Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • June 2014
11
As directors, it is our
responsibility to extract the unique
brilliance and potential from each
student by helping them to grow
as individuals, discover their
potential, and attain unbelievable
possibilities! Rather
than
comparing students to one another
and ranking them into categories,
consider the moment when we
approach each one of our students
from the perspective of their own
potential, uniqueness, and level of
contribution. As educators it is truly
our responsibility to chip away at
the stone that encases each student
and give them the freedom to be
the most they can be. I encourage
you to align yourself with your
students’ efforts to produce the
desired outcome, rather than the
standards (hierarchy, competition)
that divide and work against them.
We live in a “World of
Measurement,” which academia
characterizes best. In this
framework, students strive for
success by hoping to reach a better
place, grade, position, etc. However,
along with this comes exclusivity,
which places dividing lines of
separation between students and
can create hostility amongst each
other. This causes their placement,
ranking, and status to become more
important than each other! Almost
everything we know, we learned
by measurement. In
order to learn about
each other and about
inanimate objects,
we measure them
through comparing
and contrasting.
As instructors, we
know a child as
compared to other
children; we know
a performance of “Malaguéna” by a
junior high band as contrasted with
a performance by the Cavaliers
Drum Corps, etc.
In the middle of this consuming
pressure to be accepted, better than,
or simply noticed by somebody,
how do we attempt to create
harmony, build teamwork, ensure
unity, and foster an atmosphere of
camaraderie? Can we really build
a better team within a system that
rewards one person (or band)
for being more exceptional than
another and sidelines those who
don’t fit in or measure up?
Focus on who your students
are and what they can become!
Give them the
Freedom to Fail!
It
is much more than goal setting. By
focusing on their potential, rather
than were they rank, the students
begin to focus on the person they
want to become, rather than a
skill to conquer. This momentarily
silences the voices
within that speak of
failure.
This
is the
person you teach
every week – the
student with hopes
and dreams. Be
the Michelangelo,
and align yourself
with your students’
efforts to produce the desired
outcome, rather than the hierarchy
or competition that divides and
works against them. Risk-taking
then becomes a STANDARD OF
EXCELLENCE, which becomes a
marker
that
provides direction
.
The students are either on course
or can see where things need to
adjust. How does this work in
band, where something collective
is at stake? This is NOT to suggest
that we should expect anything less
than their very best each day, but
rather focus on their potential and
their current ability. By focusing on
one’s potential, we can express a
vision of Partnership, Teamwork,
and Relationships (what we have
been trying to accomplish all
Focusing on Your
Students’ Potential
Randy T. Gi lmore, Owner/President , Marching Show Concepts, Inc.
“Every block of stone has a
statue inside it and it is the task
of the sculptor to discover it.”
—Michelangelo
Visi t the Product
Showcase
“Maximizing
Your Time”
on Tuesday, July 29
at 4:00 p.m.
presented by
Randy Gi lmore